


Leaf You Happy

by mediocrityatbest



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Creativitwins, Gen, platonic prinxiety but it's barely there anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-24 11:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21098708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediocrityatbest/pseuds/mediocrityatbest
Summary: This is for Sanders Sides Spooky Month hosted by @sanderssidescelebrations over at Tumblr! There is a different prompt for each of the thirteen days leading up to Halloween. A million thanks to them for running this event and having such wonderful prompts to write for.Day One Prompt: jumping in leavesRoman and Remus have had this tradition since they were kids.





	Leaf You Happy

Roman sits inside, staring out the window longingly. There is not a speck of green in sight, and he could not be happier. The trees stand as tall but bare guardians against the sky and their leaves litter the ground like some kind of giant’s discolored dandruff. Even with the window open only a crack, the most delicious autumn chill is creeping in the air and he can already smell pumpkin spice. He can’t wait to go to Starbucks for his first official Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season.

But that isn’t what has him so excited today.

Today, Roman is looking more specifically forward to a tradition he and his brother have enforced since they were children. Something neither one of them could imagine going without, and also something entirely undignified. It was maybe the least princely thing Roman derived joy from. But also quite possibly the best.

The Annual Leaf Jump. It has been called many things over the years, but the rules have never changed: you make a truly absurd pile of leaves, you run at it, and you jump in. It’s how they know that sweater season has started, and how they welcome Halloween every year. It appeals to Remus’s taste in the messy with the explosion of leaves and the damp ones on the bottom of the pile and Roman’s taste in the beautiful, cinematic splash of reds and oranges that make him look amazing if you get a picture at just the right moment.

He can’t wait to do it.

In preparation, yesterday he and Remus had raked all the leaves in their front and back yard into a pile and then even raked their neighbor’s leaves up too, free of charge. It was a lot of work, but now the giant pile of leaves was almost as tall as Roman and in all the most beautiful shades of red and orange and yellow. They dried in the sunny chill of the autumn day and now are perfectly crunchy.

Roman wishes Remus didn’t have class today.

Still, there’s nothing to do about it except wait until he gets home at two. Luckily, that’s only twenty minutes away. Unfortunately, that is still twenty minutes away.

Until the front door bursts open and Remus is spilling in.

“Remus! It is today! Are you ready?” Roman yells. Remus is already grinning maniacally.

“Ready as a juicy butthole.” Sometimes Roman regrets that Remus was given the power of speech. Sometimes he wishes he’d absorbed his twin in utero.

“Yeah, uh, okay,” Roman says. “Are you going to wear...that?” Roman gestures vaguely at Remus’s shirt, a dark green crop top proclaiming ‘BLOW ME’ and the matching booty shorts that say ‘NASTY’. Roman has accepted how Remus dresses. That doesn’t mean he wants to be seen in public with him.

“Well, why wouldn’t I? They’re my clothes. I think.” Remus looks down suspiciously at his shirt, and Roman decides the last thing he wants to do is ruin today by thinking about what person Remus found that would have the same disgusting taste in clothes. He will grin and bear it.

“I don’t want to know,” Roman says. “Let’s just do this.” He pulls the door open, ready to get them leaves, only to be greeted with Virgil’s face. Virgil is their neighbor on the left who occasionally has duets with Roman in exchange for art pieces. His roommate Dee always wears bright yellow dish-washing gloves and has never once even hinted at a reason why. Roman doesn’t trust either one of them as far as he can throw them, but they have good taste in movies, great pillows for pillow forts, and are willing to host up to twelve people in Disney Marathons. So they’re pretty alright at the end of it.

“Virgil!” Roman sings, doing his best to pretend that didn’t start out as a scream. “Hello! My brother and I are busy today, please come back tomorrow.” Remus shoves them all out the door and pulls it shut behind them. Roman begins to pull up the camera on his phone so he can record this epic moment and edit it later so it looks as amazing as it feels, but Virgil has yet to leave.

“Uh, did you need something, Dark and Stormy?”

“I’m going to Starbucks. Dee’s too embarrassed to admit he wants a Pumpkin Spice Latte so I’m going to get one to drink in front of him. Do you want to come?” Roman sends a look at Remus over his shoulder.

“What if you went bobbing for apples and found eyeballs instead?” Remus says as though it’s an answer and Roman knows that’s as close to acquiescing as Remus is going to come.

“Yeah, we’ll go. Right after this, though.” Roman pauses. “Actually, could you record it for me?” He shoves his phone into Virgil’s hands, and Virgil sighs.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re going to jump in the leaves,” Roman says.

“From the roof!” Remus adds, a gleam in his eyes and quiver in his mustache. Roman immediately throws a hand out toward Remus. There’s no telling what he’ll actually do and what he’s just saying because it flitted through his mind.

“No! We are not jumping from the roof.” Remus pouts.

“It’d be cooler,” Virgil mutters but says nothing else and holds the phone up. Roman decides it’s best not to comment on that at all, lest Remus or Virgil get any more unsavory ideas. Instead, he grins and looks to Remus.

“Are you ready? Actually, don’t answer that. Let’s do this.” Quickly, Roman directs Virgil to the front of the house and angles the camera how he wants it. He and Remus start on either side of Virgil, and then they nod to each other.

“One,” Roman says.

“Two,” Remus sings.

“Three,” Virgil sighs and they both take off. They whoop and scream as they launch themselves into the leaves, and Roman enjoys the feeling of weightlessness followed by a soft, (unfortunately) moist landing. Roman laughs loudly and he can hear Remus laughing next to him, for once a real laugh instead of his usual evil cackle, and Roman really feels like fall is here. This is, in all ways, the best season. He is heavily biased, but that doesn’t make him wrong.

“Whoo!” comes from the side, and Roman looks over to see Patton jumping up and down next to a confused-but-disgusted looking Logan. “That looked like a lot of fun, kiddos! Now I see why you couldn’t just  _ leaf _ all those leaves lying on the ground!” Logan’s face loses the confusion and is now pure disgust, and Roman feels a little smug. Just a smidge.

Remus flings himself out of the leaves, somehow having already knotted multiple leaves into his hair and covered his face in dirt. His genuine laugh turns maniacal again and Roman takes that as his cue to leave. He jumps from the leaf pile and runs for Virgil, snatching his phone back.

“Thanks, Incredible Sulk. You ready for Starbucks?” Roman doesn’t wait for an answer, instead heading for the sidewalk. It’s just chilly enough for a jacket and the walk isn’t that far. It will be good to get some sunshine.

“Where are you kids going?” Patton asks. Roman can see the eye-roll from Virgil, supposedly two years older than Patton despite not even looking like an adult, and he can practically hear whatever nasty thing Remus is going to shout if given the opportunity to answer, so he answers for all three of them.

“Starbucks. Do you want to join? They’ve released the Pumpkin Spice Lattes again.” Virgil grumbles something about this being his trip, and shouldn’t he be in charge of inviting people along, but Patton enthusiastically agrees and loops his arm through Logan’s to pull him along at the same time Dee materializes behind Virgil like some kind of Pumpkin Spice summoned spirit, and Roman grins. Remus goes running ahead of their group for the most part, disturbing leaves and catching bugs to gross out Patton and Roman, and together the six of them head for Starbucks.

It’s a good day. Roman feels amazing. He feels so good, in fact, Dee might only have to ask him to order the Pumpkin Spice Latte for him twice before Roman does it. And he might not even make fun of him for wanting something so widely considered to be mainstream teenage girl culture.

But he probably will. And Patton will make puppy eyes at him until he stops, and then Virgil will take the torch. It’s a good day, and it’s setting up to be a perfect day. Roman can’t help but smile.


End file.
